Edward Klein TD No.

8
Comment of the ruling by the First Civil Chamber of the Court of Cassation Febru
ary 27, 2007
Stopping commented this a new development in the jurisprudential debate regardin
g the essential qualities of a work of art. Classically, the error is the legal
reason most often presented to courts in the context of transactions involving w
orks of art. This foundation will seek the annulment of the sale if, as the sayi
ng goes Domat "conventions where people have not known what he was
need to know to train their commitment, are null "
An art collector buys public auction a statue of Pharaoh Sésostis III presented
as crafted under his reign. Shortly after the completion of the sale, it become
s aware of a controversy as to the authenticity of the statue. Indeed, it appear
s that the object is crude forgery marks sanded and has since been proposed at d
ifferent museum, those of Basel and Cleveland in particular, before finishing at
the auction house Drouot. To get to the bottom, he decided to have it analyzed
by a variety of recognized experts in Egyptology. These are undeniable, the stat
ue does not date from the time stated but nevertheless leave room for doubt when
various anachronisms and a non-compliance with the representations of contempor
ary life of the god-man. With the acknowledged experts, the purchaser decides to
take action to annul the sale. The Court of Appeal of Paris decided however to
dismiss their request because he has not demonstrated that doubt was such that t
hey would waive contract had they known the truth. The court of second degree ca
rries including notice convoluted experts who are not categorical. Entering a se
cond application due to the introduction of new facts, it still rejects. The col
lector then forms a cassation appeal against both decisions of the Court of Appe
al. The High court gives satisfaction to the plaintiff in rescinding the contrac
t of sale based primarily on Article 110 and the decree of 3 March 1981 on the a
uthenticity of works of art.
An error on a chronological reference work of art it is sufficient to cause an e
rror in the purchaser? The ruling raises questions commented on the error when i
t relates to a fake dating (I), but also the value attributed to legal sales cat
alog (II).
I-The error regarding the dating of a work of art If the first step of legal rea
soning for canceling the sale is to demonstrate the materiality of the age (A),
it would have been made without the complex existence of the decree of March 3,
1981 (B). A-The error in the dating, a substantial error in the French positive
law recognizes the error in section 1110 of the Civil Code. To be considered a d
efect of consent, this error should fall on the substance of the object. Underst
ood in a restrictive manner, this corresponds to the material of which it is don
e. Gradually, the courts have expanded this concept to encompass the essential q
ualities, that is to say, a quality of something that was considered by the cont
ractor as motivating his consent. Three conditions are necessary to implement th
e invalidity of such error. It is necessary first, ever since the famous case Po
ussin (Civ Cass.1ère September 17, 2003), to prove a mistake. Once this initial
hurdle, the applicant for cancellation must demonstrate that this error is of c
ourse essential qualities of the thing. Previously, only the objective substance
was retained (Pothier and chandeliers Silver). The last step is to demonstrate
that this error was determinative of consent and that therefore it was flawed, n
ecessitating cancellation of the contested measure. In this case, the main diffi
culty was to assimilate the mistake of dating a substantial error. So commonly,
it is "easy" to recognize a mistake when it concerns the author of a work, it is
much less obvious prove it when the period is based on design an object, especi
ally if it is distant millennia. The controversial work is anonymous, it does it
s value as part of its length and especially the period of his alleged creation
(dynasty of Sesostris is the greatest period of prosperity in ancient Egypt). Th
e Civil Code does not bring precise answer€the solution comes from a regulatory
source text: the decree of March 3, 1981. B-The provision of the decree of 3 Ma
rch 1981 in terms of legal lexicon Decree of March 3, 1981 provides all the nece
ssary information in a spirit of lawyer to be able to describe with precision th
e terms used in the catalogs of work of Art. As a work "attributed to" is not a
work "of" Otto Dix.
Section 2 of that case clearly corresponds to the case of the species and can ma
ke clear when a response to whether or not the timing of an object enters its es
sential qualities. It features "The designation of a work or object, and only wh
en it is immediately followed by a reference to a historical period, a century o
r period, the buyer guarantees that the work or object was actually produced dur
ing the reference period. The buyer therefore in the light of the lexicon used b
y the Commissioner designer catalog of all the "guarantees" to purchase his sere
ne work of art. The Supreme Court stressed that the timing inaxictude was suffic
ient to cause the error. By recognizing a presumption of determining the error,
there is only one step. Indeed, the buyer was not here to demonstrate that manif
est error was determinative of his consent. It exits the idea that it is necessa
ry to those who demand the cancellation of a contract for mistake he proves his
influence on his consent.
II-The legal value of the catalog if the catalog makes the proof of the error mo
re obvious for the plaintiffs in the appeal (A) is that it plays a crucial role
in determining the buyer's consent. The A-device catalog of legal formalism's ar
gument art collector to demand the annulment of the sale depends mostly on the r
eference to the date set by the auctioneer, presents itself under the descriptio
n of the object in the catalog. It is therefore important to give a qualificatio
n to this document. It is possible to approximate any other catalog ad that is t
hat of a large surface so that a jeweler recognized. It retains the respect of t
he document the qualification of contract document. Indeed the latter participat
es in the training of future contract between the seller and the buyer. It is th
e latter which has been sold creating a first approximation between the parties.
This paper therefore be offered followed by a detailed description allowing the
potential buyer a price. It is an offer if one omits a key factor: price. The p
rice used will be the highest bid definitively linking the vendor and the purcha
ser. The completion is just the opposite unfolded the iceberg, because when a bu
yer goes to an auction house, it was viewed with envy the catalog or the exposur
e draft. It was at that time that his consent truly be born.
B-device catalog consent of the buyer catalog is seen by courts as a pre-contrac
tual document. Its importance is minimized because it contains all the informati
on necessary for the conclusion of the contract. The seller fulfills his obligat
ion by the same information without which he would be guilty of a fraudulent rel
uctance also known as vitiating consent. It is therefore vital for a seller to c
heck carefully the offers presented in the catalog under penalty of legal liabil
ity.